


Outlast: Copycat

by FluxYggdrasil



Category: Outlast (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:09:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluxYggdrasil/pseuds/FluxYggdrasil
Summary: Its been 10 Years since what is now known as "The Murkoff Tapes," a collection of videos taken off of the recordings of one Miles Upshur and Waylon Park were leaked to the world at large. Nothing ever gets removed from the internet, after all. And in the wake of Murkoff's Death, there is a festering. Like a cancer cell going into relapse, corruption will always taint the flesh of the world.Your name is Devin Haywood. You're a Videographer and Editor for your friends' YouTube channel. You've been pulled along to film them in an abandoned house outside of Milwaukee, WI. Your foolish recklessness you and your friends have indulged yourselves in by sullying what should have remained a relic of the past will not go unpunished.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Limbo

“What have we learned in the 10 years since the dismantling of Murkoff Corporation?”

The Anchor speaking on the made-for-tv news documentary continued speaking into his microphone as images of various scenes from Mount Massive Asylum post-riot begin to show in the background.

“Thanks to the efforts of a single whistleblower, as well as some other camcorders recovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Murkoff was put away in an act that political historians call “The only time they’ve seen world governments be united against atrocities.” 

Boring. The next one has a reporter in a hospital, not unlike the ones seen in the viral “Mount Massive” videos.

“-but some sociologists are raising concerns about the availability of such tapes on websites such as VIRALeaks, Liveleak, and other such domains on the darkweb that are known for hosting videos of intense gore; citing that “the normalization of such atrocities in our minds may invariably lead to others following suit-” 

Ugh, Boring. What else, some interviews? The guy they’re interviewing looks like some far-right balding militia wannabee that would fuck a gun if it had a snatch. Great. 

“Look, Tracey, all ahm sayin is that if it takes some fucked up killer in th’ head a year in th’loony bin and some radiation to wanna cut m’cock off and sew some tits to m’chest, you know what I say? Lock 'em all up for good! Or give em the chair!” 

The interviewer looks incredibly uncomfortable. “But we know that all of this was due to unethical dream therapy and routine and systemic abuse of the patients. In today's new world, there’s new protections made against them, right?

The gunfucker just scoffs. “All they’re doin’ is takin’ what really resides down there and bringin’ it to the surface. A lunatic’s a lunatic, Tracey!”

Revolting. How can someone like that exist in modern society without any repercussion? Ugh. Whats next? Another hospital, but this one looks far, far cleaner, at least.

“-But the seizure of nanotechnology documents in the raid of Mount Massive did lead the way to a new age in Medical Science. Top scientific researchers are able to use the nanotechnology to reattach limbs and severed digits with a 99.5% success rate, as well as using the technology to monitor a person's vitals. Head Doctor at Milwaukee State Hospital Leopold Freud says that while they have these solutions, the everyman should still take care and continue safety measures-”

Interesting. I can’t say I’ve ever lost a limb in my life, but that's still nice. If only nanomachines could cure Misophonia. What else is there… Hm, true crime? Alright, lets see…

“-citizens however, began to react in strange ways to the films, glorifying and romanticizing the actions of some of the murderers and assailants seen in them.” The image shows a picture of what looked like an elderly man in glasses, his face nearly melting off, wearing nothing but an apron. There’s a flower crown edited on top of it. “And while there are always “Fans” of criminals such as this one seen in the Mount Massive Tapes, local law enforcement are worried that exposure to such violent content will embolden others to commit copycat cri-”

“HEY!”

I jumped from where I was sitting in the back of the van. I quickly put away the phone that I was watching various news broadcasts on, hitting the back of my head on the van’s inside. “Ghahh!”  
  
“Hahah!” The man sitting in front of me laughed. “Sorry, Didn’t mean to startle you there, but I wasn’t sure if you were asleep or not! We’re reaching the house pretty shortly!”  
  
The man in front of me with shaggy blonde hair and a tacky goatee, sitting in that floral print shirt, is my friend Robbie Kowalski. Robbie turns to the driver up front, a girl with a ponytail, and speaks up. “Its… how long now?”

“Probably about 5 minutes.” She says in response. 

“You hear that Dev? Up and attem, buddy! We’re makin history here!”

“Yeah yeah.” I replied. I wasn’t asleep, but my eyes did feel a little tired from all the watching. We worked in the “Media business” as Robbie liked to call it, so he wanted me to stay on top of things. I just sighed, turning back towards him.  
  
“Why, of all the places, was _This_ your grand idea, Kowalski?” I asked him. It wasn’t like I was scared of a little adventure, but I certainly got annoyed by his ambition sometimes. If he wanted to do stupid shit, he could, but to drag me into it?  
  
“Aw Cmon!” He replied. “This is our One Million Subscriber Special! We gotta think big!”

Both of us lurched to the right as the van came to a sudden stop. Looks like this was the end of the line. We had to drive for an hour out of Milwaukee to get here, after all.

“Cmon!” The feminine voice said again. “Its already sundown, we gotta get going.” 

“Ugh, Hold your horses, Jules. I'm coming,” I said. I looked to my side and saw my Camcorder. I'm going to need that, I suppose. I unplugged my headphones from my phone and stuck them in the camera. While I was at it, I pulled a scrunchie off of my wrist and tied my hair back into a ponytail. I didn't want it getting in the way, even if I liked it long. Seeing that I had everything ready, I heaved myself out of the van. 

**< Use the WASD Keys to Move>**

The woman in the cardigan and yoga pants walking to the right of me was Juliett Sierra. She’s Robbie’s girlfriend, and also his “co host,” so to speak. She’s… alright. Certainly a lot less intense than Robbie, but still an enabler if you ask me. 

“So…” I asked. “What's with this place anyways?”  
  
Robbie, who was walking up ahead, turned to me. “This place has been abandoned since at least 2010! I hear they come by sometime to clear out squatters and homeless people, but nobody ever buys it! You know why that is?”  
  
I looked at the house ahead of us up and down. It wasn’t like a mansion, but it was fairly sizable. Likely a farmhouse for a big family. It looked like it was built in the 50’s, and was a little worse for wear.  
  
“Could it be because it's old and expensive and nobody wants to go through the effort of repairing it when the inevitable rest of it starts to wither away…? Who’d want to waste their money on that?”  
  
Robbie and Juliet both looked at me with a disapproving look. “...What? You asked.”

Robbie chuckled and looked back at me. “Let me tell you, They say it's HAUNTED!” He splayed his arms out wide as if to accentuate his point. “Sometimes, people have reported hearing screams from here, but the police say that they aren’t able to find anything, nor have any of the real estate agents who come here to clear out squatters. You know what that means, right?”

“That people would do anything for attention?”

“I- Ugh, God, Why. Why do you do this, Devin.”  
  
I just shrugged at him. We were at the front doors now, so it was likely time. 

“Alright alright.” Robbie said. “C’mere Jules, let's get this show on the road.” 

I watched as Juliet brushed past me. Alright. They had their job, and I had mine. Sure I didn’t like getting pulled into Robbie’s schemes, but at least he had the common sense to pay me well. I didn’t take that videography and movie editing course in college for nothing. 

“Alright, Alright, annnddd…. Right there, okay! Ready…? You’re getting this, right?

**< Press RMB To Raise Your Camera>**

I raise up the camera and begin filming, fiddling with the settings to get the color balancing just right. “Alright, rolling. Ready to go when you are, Robbie.”

He smiles and looks back up at the camera and smiles, before clearing his throat.  
  
“What is UP Subscribers!! Thank you so much for bringing us to ONE! MILLION! SUBSCRIBERS!!! So in celebration for hitting this milestone today Juliet, Devin, and I Are going to be taking on the OVERNIGHT IN A HAUNTED ABANDONED HOUSE CHALLENGE!!!!”

My name is Devin Haywood, and I feel like I'm about to have a really, really bad evening.


	2. Introduction To The Show.

**< New Objective: Film Juliet and Robbie>**

As soon as we closed the door behind us to the abandoned manor, I could hear Robbie start to cough his lungs out 

“Ghah! Jesus, how long has this place been sitting around like this?”

“I don’t know…” I said. I pointed the camera around a little. It was a decent enough place, looks like it was built probably in the 70’s. I personally am glad we don’t have to sift through a faux-victorian aesthetic mansion. That would have been so cliche.

“Man. This place, it's kind of Creepy. Did you see that!?” Robbie says, playing it up for the camera. I never really was much for theatrics, so I didn’t mind. Robbie was the star, after all. 

Juliet looked around. There were still the last throes of sunlight peering through the windows, so it wasn’t entirely needed. She continued to play it up for the camera as well. 

“Oh Robbie, I’m a little scared!” She says, fake-shivering.

“Haha, Don’t worry about it, my petit.” He says, snickering. “I’ll take out any ghosts we meet!” Ugh. Sappy. Did he really have to use the word “petit?”

We continued to explore some of the rooms. Dusty mostly, with barely any signs of use.  
  
“Hey.” I said, as I pointed down towards the ground. “Hey- look at that. It looks like… footprints?”

Everything in this house was caked in dust, but there on the ground were some footprints. Looked like they were from some kind of… fancy shoe? I would have recognized if it was from some kind of sneaker due to the patterns, but these were more… flat. Patternless.

“Probably uh…” I began. “Probably a realtor who was checking for squatters.”

“Or!” Juliet says, “It was the ghost that was haunting this place!” 

“There’s a ghost now?” 

“Cmon.” She says, sullenly. “You gotta play along too.”

“Yeah man!” Robbie chastised. “You’re always like, such a bummer, dude.” 

“Uggghhh…” I steadied the camera, still pointing it towards the footprints. “Yeah, fine, sure.” 

We continued for a little longer, with Robbie and Juliet doing all sorts of silly shenanigans that probably majorly disrespected whoever used to live in this house.

Eventually though, we settled down. The sun was beginning to set, and we needed to eat eventually. I pulled a sandwich out of my messenger bag while Robbie cracked open a can of cheap beer.

“So,” he begins. “What's our plan for the rest of the night?”

“I presume “sleep” is out of the question?” 

“Cmon, Dev. You’re gonna “sleep” on the opportunity to film a haunted house after dark?”

“...It's… haunted now?”

“Listen- we’re hitting the big time. This is our one million subscriber special. We just gotta send it! Jules, show him.”

Juliet turned to me and pulled out a mask with blank eyes and no face. It reminded me of that “Eyeless Jack” story on the internet from a while back. “Oh god, why do you have that.”

“It's the ghost.”

“.....what.”

Juliet smiled at me. “Have you ever watched Cloverfield?” 

Of course I had, and I saw where this was going. “...Oh god, are you serious? I'm not that in shape you know.”

“Oh come on, Dev! It’ll be fun!”

He sighs. “...Alright.”

We continued to eat our meals in the dirty parlor. It was messy, with plants and the like knocked over. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a couple papers that had fallen onto the floor. Curiously, I shuffled over there and picked them up. They were mostly just newspapers from last year, with boring old articles about municipal ordinance changes and that kind of thing. One article caught my attention though…

* * *

**CONTROVERSIAL COURT CASE ENDS WITH ALL CHARGES DROPPED**

A controversial court case in the city of Milwaukee ended this thursday with controversy. The case, locally being nicknamed the “White Avenue Murder Trial” involved the defendants, Nathan Freud and Richard Albert, brutalizing a homeless man residing in an alley on White Avenue with bats. The man later died in the hospital due to complications from the attack.

The attack got nation-wide notoriety after a video of the attack taken by an onlooker went viral. Users on twitter began the hashtag #JusticeForMrWhite in response to these videos. “Mr. White” being used as a pseudonym for the victim, as the police were not able to find conclusive evidence to the man's identity. 

However, during the court hearing, chief defence attorney Solomon Seid argued that the boys were still young, and that at the ages of 21 and 22 respectively, their futures and application to Oxford University should be taken into account. Seid also argued that as the victim appeared to be unregistered and unnamed, Freud and Albert were simply “bringing about justice in their own, misguided way, and didn’t deserve to be punished for doing the right thing.”

The court case only grew even more controversial as the governor of Wisconsin had made comments in defence of Freud and Albert, praising them for their efforts to “help clean up our great state.”

The Honourable judge Johnathan Smith gave his ruling today to drop all the charges, citing the boys recent acceptance into Oxford and not wanting to “stifle the lives of future lawyers or scientists,” calling the judicial process a “learning experience for [them.]” This decision came with a large surge of tweets to the #JusticeForMrWhite hashtag, as well as calls for Judge Smith’s resignation.

At this time, Freud and Albert were unavailable to comment, as their parents had said that they have not returned home. When asked if state police plan to try and track down the two exonerated boys, the Milwaukee chief of police declined to comment.

As of publication, Nathan Freud and Richard Albert are still missing.

* * *

“Jesus…” I let the words escape my mouth without thinking “I remember hearing about this… fucked up rich kids getting not even a slap on the wrist. What else is new…”

“Yeah man.” Robbie said. “If I fucked up a homeless man I’d be getting the book thrown at me.” 

“You’re famous though, sort of.” Juliet retorted. “I feel you’d get it at least a little bit easier.”

“This paper’s from just last year.” I said, interrupting the two’s squabbling. “I thought this house was supposed to had been abandoned for years? What’s something like this doing here?”

“What,” Robbie said, in a teasing tone. “You gonna blame it on insurance inspectors or whatever you do again?”

I didn’t reply to him, my eyes just grazed over the date of publication again and again. If it was on the counter, then maybe some real estate worker did leave it here, but it was on the ground. It was amongst the chaos. That wasn’t possible though, nobody’s lived in this house for years. What was going on…?

“...Hmph. Sure, alright, I’ll bite.” I say, getting up to my feet. “Something’s weird about this house. Lets see what we can find.”

“Hahah.” Juliet chuckled at me. “Ready to play ghost hunter now?” 

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever you wanna call it to help you sleep at night.”

**< New Objective: Investigate the Abandoned House>**

I got up off of the floor. Naturally, Robbie took the lead of this newfound investigation. 

“Alright, gang” he began, playing up what was going on. “Something strange is going on here, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it!”

“Right…” I said. “Where to first?”

**< Press “F” To Turn On/Off Night Vision>**

**< Night Vision Drains Battery Life. Ration It Wisely.>**

Robbie moved towards a door and opened it. At every stop, we’d look around, and he’d say some contrived bullshit about what's going on. Maybe some flowers were knocked over and he’d say something vague, like a horoscope. “Signs of activity” this or “Another clue to the answer.” Frankly, I would be annoyed if I had to watch this without any sort of payoff, but I guess that's why Robbie went to acting school and I went into media.

“You know, Devin.” He says to me, as we’re walking through a hallway. “You should really put yourself on camera more. You’ve got the face for it!” 

“Nope.” Curt, but we’ve been through this before. No need to prolong the steps of this dance. “Not gonna happen, Rob.”

“I’ve said it before though, bro. You have the eyes for it.” 

“The… eyes?”

“Yeah!” He pointed towards me. “You have like- bi… something? I don’t know”

He was talking about my Heterochromia, most likely. No, not the kind that you’d see in those weird anime girls people draw online with tits big enough to snap a spine in half. My eyes are blue, but the top half of each of my eyes is a yellow-brownish hazel. Its honestly kind of an insecurity of mine. I used to get bullied because of it in grade school, but nobody really cares nowadays. Still, I find myself covering them subconsciously. I realized that I was doing that even now, and brushed my long bangs out of my right eye.

“I don’t really want to.” I said. “I like having the control of the camera. It's what I do.”

“Alright. Well, Anyways- Let's look at this bathroom, alright?”

We opened the door to the bathroom and were immediately greeted by a sharp, copper-like smell. All 3 of us instinctively covered our noses. 

“Ghah…” Juliet groaned. It was pitch black in there, but it smelled awful. What was going on?

“That smell…” Robbie put his hand up to his nose. “There’s no way it could be…

I turned on night vision and our fears were confirmed. There was blood- some, but not all, dried.

“Gh…” The whole rest of my body was shaky, but I forced my hand to remain still. I took in the scene. There was a smudged handprint on the mirror, the back wall was splattered with blood, and the tub and subsequent tiles were absolutely soaked. Hell, I think there was still some wet blood in there. Who knows if it was fresh or not, but god I hope not.

“Wha-what happened here?”

“Shit- probably some kind of… I don’t know, organ harvesting?”

“God- we need to get out of here guys.” 

“No.” Robbie reassured us. “It’s… probably fine. We’d have found someone by now if there really was someone here.”

I grit my teeth. Was it really fine?

“Hey!” He said. “You got that footage right? This would like- segue SUPER WELL into that like- chase!”

“I- Seriously, Rob?” Juliet was still super shaken up by what she’d seen, clearly. 

“Its… ugh!” I could see the nerves in Robbie’s eyes. “It’ll be fun. It’ll help us calm down- just- trust me, okay?”

She sighs. “Fine.” She spoke to me without even making eye contact as she dug through her bag. “You ready, Dev? Let's say- to the living room and loop back around here?”

“Okay.” I nodded. I could use some cardio, honestly. Good thing I brought my running jacket.

Juliet put on the mask an hid behind the counter. I pulled up my camera as she jumped out. “Ghaahh!! I'm gonna get you!!” As I turned to run, I can’t help but wonder if that was really the best dialogue she could think of. 

**< Hold Down SHIFT To Sprint>**

Personally, I was more used to sprinting on the red dust tracks of high school rather than in an abandoned house. Frankly, it was a lot easier when I didn’t have to worry about breaking through any floorboards, or dodging door frames. Not that I was in any real danger.

**< Use Q or E While Sprinting To Look Behind You>**

Juliet was keeping up a fair pace behind me as we scrambled around the house for the camera. Even if she wasn’t though, it's not like she could hurt me. I mean, I guess she could, if she wanted to, which she doesn’t as far as I’m aware. I could… probably take her in a fight. She’s a tough gal. I place the wager on 50/50. Depends on if I trip over all these fucking knocked over boxes or not!

**< Run Into Obstacles To Vault Over Them>**

I swear, if I trip and end up cutting myself open on some rusty nail, I'm going to be pissed. Honestly, i'm starting to get tired, so I just “Stumble” into a wall for dramatic effect, and put the camera down, calling for Juliet to stop. 

“Alright.” I say. “That should make Robbie happy.” I take a few deep breaths. It's been a while since I ran like that. 

“God, I hope so.” Damn, she wasn’t even breaking a sweat? Honestly, I feel a little embarrassed, especially in front of Robbie. Wait, where did he go?

“Have you seen Rob?”

“I thought he was gonna follow behind me?”

“God damnit, lets go find him. He probably wandered off to have another beer or something.”

**< New Objective: Locate Robbie>**

The two of us walked together through the house, occasionally calling for his name. We even went upstairs and peeked into the little bedrooms. Nothing.

“What about…” As we passed through the kitchen, Juliet tried a door to what we presumed to be the basement. It was locked. 

“That's where they keep the bodies.” I joked, well- half joking. I prayed silently that I wasn’t right. Juliet gave me a light shove on the shoulder.

As we passed through the entrance hall again, I noticed something with my camera. “We… closed that behind us.” I pointed to a door.

“What?”

“I- I swear we closed that. But now it's open.” 

“Are you certain? I mean, it's clearly open. Are you sure your nerves aren’t getting to you?”

“Cmon, maybe Robbie came through here.”

I told myself that to calm myself down, mostly. Even as we passed through that door again, I felt a chill go down my spine. Something was wrong here, now. I was absolutely sure of it.

As we were passing through one of the hallways again, something caught my eye. Perhaps it was the repetition through futility, but I noticed it. It was a paper on the ground, like a couple others, but this one was… different. It was… Newer? I bent down to pick it up. 

* * *

**COMMUNICATIONS LETTER: TO MY PARTNER IN CRIME**

Goodness Gracious, Albert, Do we really have to write like pilgrims? I know that it's because the pigs outside know how to track E-Mail, but regardless, I feel so… like a commoner. Aren’t we supposed to be above the droll minds of the common folk? 

Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. It is what it is. I’ll move on to business. I’ve heard word of a man out at a pub who’s a serious drunk. I’m talking twelve bottles a session! Doesn’t sound like he’s of a family too. I wonder why. Nobody would miss him, is my point. Do you want me to take my darling to go retrieve him, or do you want to?

As well as that, I'm worried about our setup. There have been insurance appraisers here lately. You’ve made sure to take care of the basement, right? I trust you.

Rightfully yours, Freud.

* * *

“Hey!”

Robbie’s voice, like a breath of fresh air, cut me out of the trance of reading this note. He came up to us in an uncharacteristically muted demeanour. He was drenched in sweat. “I… I gotta show you guys something.”

“Wh-What is it?” Juliet asked. 

“No time for that, Jules. Lets just go.”

The two of us followed him up the stairs to the master bedroom down the long hall. When we got there, he hesitated, before stepping in. Instinctively, I put my camera up. 

“I-its in there…” He pointed to a closet. 

“What is?” 

Instead of telling us, he appeared to need to show us firsthand. He stepped closer to the closet, and slowly creaked it open. Inside was… god, I can’t even begin to describe it. It was a sorry excuse for a corpse. Its throat was slit, and some of its limbs were only barely held together by 1 or 2 tendons. The worst part was, I knew it was at least somewhat fresh.

Juliet and I stepped back. “What the fuck!?” This was going to go straight to… ffffuck! I don’t know, the police? Would they be able to help us?

Robbie just stared at the body at the entrance to the small walk-in closet for a moment, and turned his back to it to stare into the camera. There was genuine despair in his eyes. 

“Guys… we need to leave. The show is over. We need to get out… Now-” 

But the worst was yet to come. I was frozen in shock. I watched as a figure emerged from the shadows of the closet, behind Robbie. Oh god- it all happened so quickly. One arm wraps around his collar like a chokehold. The next? What looks like a Machete is struck straight through his neck, from the back, out the front. 

He drops like a sack of potatoes. He was vibrant and full of life, but he was struck down without another word within… 2 seconds? How can something so cruel and unjust happen that fast? I watched it. Within those precious seconds before it all blew to hell, I watched it. I got it on tape, even! There he is. Down there. If he wasn’t dead from that, he’d be bleeding out. His eyes are still open from the shock, as the large wound in his neck spurts out blood from both of the wounds now. It's not even pretty, the way he’s been so disgracefully thrown to the floor. He’s been thrown aside like a toy or a cut shrub. His blood soaked shirt, the way that the bone of the spine so subtly juts out from behind him, the way that you can see inside to where his throat would be and up-

“DEV! RUN!” 

I was able to snap out of my second-long trance as the man in the closet took another step forward. It was clear that he wasn’t done with that blade. I could see now- the man was dishevelled, but somewhat nicely dressed. He had a sweater vest on, with a polo shirt underneath. His hair was slicked back, but with threads and knots jutting out of his greasy, sweaty hair. There was nothing in his eyes. I could sense no life, no emotion. Just pure desire to kill, paired with a saccharine smile. 

“Hold still- friend! It’ll only take a second!” 

I turned tail and ran, immediately, hopping over the bed. I could hear him shouting at me. The increase of tempo in the footsteps tells me that he’s begun to run as well. Fuck. Fuck. Who was he? There’s only one of two people, judging from the context clues, but-

“Good good! I love the hunt! Fly, my Partridge!”

Down the stairs. I shot down the stairs, skipping step after steps, and took a hard right towards the entrance. However, as I looked down the hall, I could see the other one, Blonde with a blood-stained sweater tied around his shoulders, and he was holding a spiked bat. I have no idea where Juliet went, but that could wait. There’s no way that I could take him, and the other was hot on my trail, so I ducked into a closet, Setting the deadbolt. 

They were quick to begin hitting and trying to tear down the door, their yells and occasional giggles cut through the sound of splintering wood. I looked behind me. There was a slight crack in the wall, I could make it through there. I slipped through it, tight, but it would do, and continued to run as they noticed my sneaky move. 

“Haha! The Partridge Flies Again!” 

As I ran towards the kitchen, with two weapon wielding maniacs behind me, I noticed something strange. The Basement door was ajar. And locked. I had a plan for myself within those moments. Lock the door behind me, then go downstairs and exit through a basement window. That… should work.

As I ran through the kitchen vaulting over an island and opened the door, I noticed something, taking a step forward.

There was nothing there. 

The momentum carried me, and I almost threw myself down into the dark abyss, but I was able to turn around and catch myself, barely, on the ledge to the door frame. I looked upwards to see the silhouette’s of the two men who had just murdered my friend looking down at me and smiling. 

“Well, Richy.” the one said. “I was just gonna kill him for some fine saturdays entertainment, but this is much more lucrative, don’t you think? I mean, He’s practically delivered himself to our work!”

“Righto, Nathan.” The other, with the bat replied. “Lets break for some tea, and meet again downstairs?”

“It’s a plan. See you in five?”

“Oh, won’t you make it ten for little old me?”

“You sly devil, very well. ten.” 

The one with the bat. Clearly “Richy” looked down at me. “Alright then. Lets let the experiment begin, shall we?” As he said that, he brought down the spiked bat to my hands. I didn’t even have the time to grunt in pain before my hands' strength left me and I began to fall. 

I expected to fall only a little bit, into the basement or cellar, but what caught my fear most was that I felt… a slanted surface. Not a floor. And I continued to tumble and fall. And tumble, and tumble.

As I made my horrible descent down into the basement of this manor, I clutched my camera, picked a god to pray to, and blacked out.


End file.
